Studies in leishmaniasis in the anglo-EGyptian Sudan. XI. Phlebotomus in relation to leishmaniasis in the Sudan

Abstract

1. (1) Studies of Phlebotomus were undertaken in the expectation that they would reveal a species of the P. major group, related in its distribution with kala-azar in the Sudan, easy to infect with the local leishmania and in which the leishmania undergo “anterior” development. 2. (2) Preliminary observations suggest that Phlebotomus orientalis Parrot may fulfil these criteria in some parts of the Sudan. 3. (3)Other sandflies related to those which transmit kala-azar in other parts of the Old World, and occurring in the kala-azar areas of the Sudan, are P. lesleyae and P. martini, but feeding experiments have not been carried out with P. lesleyae or P. martini. 4. (4) P. clydei, though not belonging to the group of Phlebotomus by which kala-azar is in general transmitted in the Old World, agrees fairly well in its distribution with kala-azar and has been found to bite man. Feeding experiments on a small scale suggest that this species is probably not a very effective vector, but they are not conclusive. 5. (5) It is believed on epidemiological grounds that P. papatasi is the principal vector of oriental sore in the northern Sudan.